This means people who bought the game on Windows 10 Store are unable to play with players who bought the game from other platforms, most notably Steam. As one player soon found out, this results in virtually empty servers.

Compared to Steam’s statistics, around 6.000 people are playing “Infinite Warfare” during the writing of this article. That’s more than enough to find a decent online game and get your money’s worth.

According to hayz00s, the refund process went smoothly as Microsoft representatives were very cooperative. Still, this will certainly hurt the Windows Store sales of the games, even if the game is considerably cheaper.

Cross-platform play

Microsoft has commented on the situation, saying they “support cross-play between devices and platforms for partners who want to enable it.”

This is no surprise as the company is constantly pushing cross-platform play between PC and Xbox One.

Well-known titles such as Gears of War 4 and Forza Horizon 3 already support cross-platform play. Additionally, Microsoft is promoting it through various offers including giving the games for free on other platforms.

Call of Duty: Infinite WarfareImage credit: Activision

As it stands out, the blame can be put on Activision, publisher of the game. The support page for the game states it can only be played “with other users of Windows 10 on Windows Store”.

The strange decision makes less sense when you see the FAQ section of the game. It clearly states any form of cross-play between Windows Store UWP and other PC versions will be unavailable.

This reinforces the blame on Activision as there are games that feature cross-play with these conditions. For instance, the upcoming GWENT: A Witcher Card Game support cross-play between the Windows 10 Store, Win32 versions, and Xbox One.

The separation of consoles and PC is nothing new and makes sense considering differences between them. However, the decision to separate PC players on a platform basis creates a problem for everyone.

As of this moment, Activision has not commented on the decision.

Call of Duty series is one of the most popular multiplayer first-person shooters of all time. With 13 titles under its belt on various gaming platforms, it has sold over 200 million titles and grossed over $11 billion globally.

Sead is a former Al Jazeera journalist who shares his passion for technology on various tech media outlets. Formerly a heavy gamer (semi-professional Warcraft 3 gosu), he now enjoys reviewing software and churning out words about the latest tech-news. He holds a college degree in Journalism and likes to annoy his neighbors by playing one of his three electric and two acoustic guitars.